Page 29 of Alpha Dragon’s Mating Contract (Babies For Broken Dads #3)

YOU STOLE A WHAT?

Walren didn’t get a chance to find out.

He stepped out of Nood’s Good hours later, Zebbie in his chest carrier and Raptor by his side.

“Have you been bored all day, sweetheart?” Raptor asked, stroking his warm, heavy palm down Walren’s back. “I know you can entertain yourself with Zebbie and your phone, but a tiny office isn’t the best place for a bouncy gazelle like you.”

Walren shrugged. “It’s not so bad. I’ve been through worse.”

Raptor stopped in the middle of the employee parking lot and looked at Walren in horror. “Worse? In what way?”

It was early evening; the restaurant was still running. The night shift would take care of the dinner rush and closing duties, so Raptor could bring Walren home and continue working on his nest.

Walren was glad for the change in scenery. Not the part where he and Zebbie were in plain sight, but he loved having the breeze in his hair.

“I mean, I was kidnapped,” Walren said. That still gave him nightmares. “We were stuck in that room for weeks, with just us and a bunch of babies that they stole.”

Raptor’s gaze went ice-cold. “I remember that,” he said darkly. “Those asshats won’t be stealing any more babies.”

Maybe Walren should be feeling some trepidation at the murderous intent rolling off Raptor, but right now, all he felt was safe.

And aroused.

“I know,” he said quietly. “Thank you for coming to my rescue.”

Raptor smiled and squeezed Walren’s hip, his large hand sliding up Walren’s side. “I appreciate the discussion about that chapter of your life, sweetheart, but I didn’t mean for you to compare my office to a human trafficking cell. That is not the baseline for any comparison.”

“Oh,” Walren said sheepishly. “You’re right.”

“What about your life before Cartfalls? I hope you weren’t stuck in a tiny office for hours.”

“I don’t think you know what a step up this contract is for me,” Walren admitted. “I used to work in the back room of a tailor shop for an eighth of my current pay and fifteen-minute lunch breaks, from 6 AM to 8 PM—”

“What?” Raptor growled. “Jobs like that exist? ... Who the hell am I kidding? Of course they exist. Fuck.”

Walren shrugged. “I needed the money.”

“I’m very sure you could’ve found a better job with your skills,” Raptor said darkly.

“I—”

Walren was about to say more when a loud squeaking cut through the air.

Both of them froze, heads snapping toward the sound.

“Get back here, you damn basket case!”

Across the parking lot, a shopping cart darted between the parked cars, something bright yellow in its cargo basket.

Metals contained magic. It began as wisps of magical energy in metal ores, that accumulated when the ores were melted and purified.

Over time, these magic-rich metals were turned into objects like shopping carts and faucets.

When their metal parts moved and interacted, their magical energy changed, and the objects turned sentient.

It was how door locks could smile, faucets could bite, and shopping carts could frolic in parking lots.

This shopping cart careened closer, leading the angry alpha toward them.

“You fucking thief!” the alpha yelled.

Abruptly, Walren recognized his face.

Larei.

He was the last person Walren wanted to see, when he had Zebbie out in the open. What if Zebbie accidentally breathed fire?

“Fuck,” Raptor muttered. He stepped in front of Walren and Zebbie, using his own body as a shield.

The shopping cart, recognizing protection, darted behind Raptor.

Larei looked up with a scowl. “You!”

Raptor’s fingers twitched. “What’s going on?”

“It stole my cheeseburger!”

Walren recalled, with much bitterness, how particular Larei was about his food. And how he would beat Walren if Walren overcooked so much as a green bean.

Raptor stiffened. “Stand down. I’ll get it back for you.”

Larei sneered. “Yeah? It’s getting cold. Maybe you should compensate by giving me another.”

Raptor rolled his eyes. “If you’re incompetent enough that a shopping cart could steal your burger, whose fault is it, really?”

The other alpha tensed, trembling with rage. He stepped sideways to glower at the cart—and saw Walren.

Walren’s insides seized. He took a hobbling step back... and realized he shouldn’t have.

Because now Larei knew about his bad leg.

Larei’s cruel eyes zeroed in on where Walren’s knee should’ve been. The disability that he had caused.

He sneered. “You again. Giving up your holes to the first alpha who doesn’t throw up at your leg.”

Walren paled. Lately, he had been trying to walk like a normal person, tiptoeing with his short leg to make up for the difference in its length. And he had been hoping that Raptor hadn’t noticed.

A low growl shook out of Raptor. “I gave you a chance to leave with your food. If you have any sense, you’ll leave now, without having your face punched in.”

Walren had felt Raptor’s murderous intent before, but that was nothing compared to the absolute danger pouring off him now.

Raptor took a step forward. Larei snapped his gaze back to Raptor; he stiffened warily.

“I would offer to duke it out with you here.” Raptor waved at the parking lot around them.

“But all damages will be yours to pay. If you can’t afford it, I’ll be happy to sell your kidneys to make up the difference.

Not that I think they’ll be enough to pay off this many cars.

Maybe if I sell your liver and corneas, too? ”

“What the hell,” Larei snarled.

Walren gaped. He knew it was an unethical threat, but no one had spoken that way to Larei before. It gave him such a rush to hear it now, to know that Larei would get what was coming to him.

Raptor bounced on his heels, his smile taking on a manic edge. “I’ll even let you walk away after. You don’t need your corneas to live. Well, maybe you’ll need the kidneys and liver, but not for long.”

“You’re insane,” Larei growled.

“I don’t tolerate anyone saying rude things to my omega.” Raptor’s smile was all sharp teeth. “Or would you like me to discuss your holes? Maybe they would be worth some money, too? I bet your butthole is worth a lot. It’s virgin, isn’t it?”

Larei’s face grew red and splotchy. “How dare—”

“Oooh, doesn’t feel so good now, does it? I would love to kill you a million times over for what you did to Walren,” Raptor purred. “But I thought it would be a shame to let your body parts go to waste. Lots of people out there who need a new set of eyes. You don’t need yours.”

Larei stared at Raptor in disbelief. He clenched his fists and bared his teeth.

Walren thought Larei would lunge at Raptor and fight him anyway. But Larei stepped back, shooting Walren a poisonous look. “I won’t forget this.”

He squared his shoulders and walked away.

“Use this chance to become a better fucking person,” Raptor called after him.

Larei kept walking. Walren didn’t quite manage to breathe until the man was completely out of sight.

“Are you sure that was a good idea?” Walren mumbled shakily. “He could come back and fuck things up for you real bad.”

Raptor’s smile was razor-sharp. “I need a good, legal reason to finish him off, remember? Self-defense is one of those.”

Walren only realized then that Raptor had played Larei like a chess piece.

His alarm bells should be screeching. Raptor had done something devious. But all that ill intent was directed at someone who still gave Walren nightmares, and Walren realized that he didn’t have it in himself to care.

Shakily, he walked up to Raptor. Straight into his chest. Raptor pulled Walren and Zebbie into a hug, large hands running up and down Walren’s back.

“I’ll take you home,” Raptor said soothingly. “Where you’ll be safe.”

Relief finally soaked into Walren’s body. He sagged against Raptor and buried his face in the alpha’s chest, inhaling his smoke and ironwood scent.

Something squeaked quietly next to them.

They turned to find the shopping cart rocking back and forth on its wheels. When it realized it had their attention, it flipped its front wheels, and raised its flap to push the stolen burger forward.

Walren blinked hard. “Is that... for me?”

The cart inched closer, nudging Walren’s hand with its cargo basket.

“I think it wants you to have it. In exchange for pets,” Raptor said dryly. He reached into the cart and scooped up the burger. “Hey, this came from Anna’s.”

Walren stared at him, aghast. “Are you going to eat it? ”

“Do you see another hungry person around? Aside from yourself?” Raptor shrugged. “It hasn’t been poisoned. From the way that sludge-stain acted, he was genuinely pissed about the burger. I suspect he had gotten it for himself. The cart stole it out of his hands.”

“How?” Walren asked, baffled.

The cart rolled away. It circled them slowly, then crept up behind Raptor, nudging its cargo basket under Raptor’s hand.

The one holding the burger. Before either of them could speak, the cart jerked away, the edge of its basket catching against the burger.

This loosened the burger from Raptor’s grip and dropped it into its cargo basket.

The cart raced off.

They stared after it in shock. Then they looked at each other, and began to laugh.

“That’s—That was a robbery.” Walren giggled. “It got you by surprise!”

“Damn,” Raptor said, glancing at the sky. “It’s still light out. That was daylight robbery. ”

Walren cracked up. “Why does it even want to steal a burger? It doesn’t need food.”

The shopping cart had stopped some distance away, flipping its wheels back and forth. It rolled closer and wriggled, before darting away again.

“I think it wants to play Catch,” Raptor crowed. “ That’s why it stole the burger.”

“Really?” Walren perked up.

“Let’s see if it’s true.” Raptor released Walren with a ruffle of his hair. Then he bounded after the shopping cart, which took off with squeaking wheels.

Raptor chased it around the parking lot, before putting on a burst of speed. He grabbed the burger out of its basket. Then he brought the burger back to Walren, letting it dangle from his fingertips.

The cart rushed past him and stole the burger again.

“Oh, the outrage,” Raptor howled, before giving chase.

Walren laughed. Even Zebbie was watching the scene, Raptor subtly herding the cart left or right to avoid crashing it into any cars.

Raptor finally snatched the burger back, petting the cart’s handle. “That was a great game. C’mon, we should make some introductions.”

The cart looked so small next to Raptor. Abruptly, Walren realized that if Raptor had never shielded it from Larei, the cart wouldn’t still be intact and uncrumpled like it was right now.

That was a sobering thought.

Raptor brought the cart to a stop in front of Walren and Zebbie. “So, I’m Raptor,” he told the cart. “And this is Walren. His lil guy is Zebbie; they’re both gazelles.”

The cart flipped its wheels left and right.

“I’m bringing you home,” Raptor decided, patting the cart. He turned to Walren. “What should we name it?”

Walren’s heart melted.

“You should be the one naming it,” he pointed out. “You’ve just spent all that time bonding with it.”

“Hmm. But I want us both to name it! Please?” Raptor gave Walren a wide-eyed look.

Walren hadn’t thought he was weak against an alpha’s puppy eyes, but apparently, he was. “What about... Go Cart? Since it really likes racing.”

Raptor lit up. “That’s great.” He turned to the cart and hugged it to his side. “From now on, you shall be known as Go Cart.”

The cart gave a wriggle and squeaked its wheels. If it wasn’t growing dark so quickly, Walren would’ve taken a picture of Raptor and his new cart friend.

“C’mon, we should be heading home,” Raptor said. “But first.”

He unwrapped the burger, offering the first bite to Walren.

Walren blinked. “You were the one playing with it. You should get the first bite.”

“And I want it to go to you.” Raptor shook the burger at him.

His heart thumping, Walren leaned in to bite gently on the tomato and lettuce slices, tugging them out of the burger. He stuffed them quickly into his mouth and moaned at their crispness.

Raptor watched him with great satisfaction. “Good. You need to be fed.”

“So you can cook me?”

The alpha rolled his eyes. “So I can continue to breed you!”

Walren huffed. “The burger is kind of cold since you spent all that time playing with your food.”

“I’ll warm it up and feed the buns to you. Or make a better one myself.” Raptor took a large bite of the burger, then wrapped it up and ushered them to the car.

Just before Walren climbed into the backseat with Zebbie, he patted Go Cart. “You’re a great cart.”

The cart shuddered, pleased.

Raptor drove them home, the cart following close behind. It wasn’t a long drive since his mansion was close to Nood’s Good.

Halfway through the drive, the car swerved sharply.

Raptor grunted, hunching over the steering wheel. “Fuck!”